Pubdate: Tue, 18 Jan 2011
Source: Abbotsford Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 The Abbotsford Times
Contact:  http://www.abbotsfordtimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1009
Author: Aeriol Alderking

GOD IS GOOD FOR THOSE BATTLING ADDICTION

Editor, the Times:

Robert Rock, you are aptly named. Whatever happened to cause you to 
become so hard-hearted towards those who have made unfortunate 
choices in their lives? Surely you would not pretend to have never 
taken a wrong turn at some point in your life? First, you profess 
concern for addicts being victimized by Christians and then in the 
next breath you say you don't care about them. Your final position is 
that the government should protect society from them. It sounds as 
though you have been hurt by them and possibly the church as well.

For this I am truly sorry. God does love you and sometimes we 
Christians fail to really demonstrate this. However, as we are also 
addressing literacy, may I recommend the book "Chasing the Dragon" by 
Jackie Pullinger. You will find it most enlightening. God sent a 20 
year old music major to the most notorious drug den on earth; the 
Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. She was armed with an oboe and her 
belief in God.

This woman's work with addicts and their families in a city run by 
the most dangerous triad resulted in thousands of addicts becoming 
drug free, law enforcement being changed, the end of the walled city 
and precedent setting court cases that triad members did not belong 
to gangs for life.

She accomplished what the government and professional agencies could not.

I have friends who received professional support and are now addicted 
to methadone instead of heroin. They rue the day they listened to 
these professionals. The Chinese government also uses methadone while 
Pullinger and her squad of former addicts help current addicts go 
through withdrawal without drugs. St. Stephen's Society has been 
operating since 1966 with such a great degree of success that they 
have now been invited to come into mainland China to assist with the 
problems there.

I invite you to step outside your narrow focus and gain some real 
insight into what moves people to change, both addicts and those who 
work with them. True power to inspire change, whether you are a 
professional or an oboe player, is love. I hope you will find love in 
your life for yourself and others. It is the only thing that makes 
life worth living.

Aeriol Alderking,

Abbotsford
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